Monday, March 21, 2016

Don't you just love beef wellington, right! It's decadent, special, not your everyday kind of dish. It makes for a great holiday menu or a treat for a dinner party. But beef wellington isn't exactly a spring type of dish, by nature it's just a bit heavy.

But salmon wellington now that's a more appropriate spring time dish.

We were in the mood for something a little special, a little different so salmon wellington it became.

We found a great recipe posted from Seattle Fish Company that caught our eye. Puffed pastry wrapped around a salmon fillet topped with spinach and a crab salad. Oh yeah, we knew this needed to be made.

And don't be fooled it may look fancy and special but really it's not complicated at all to make.

Trust us you can lay down some puff pastry and layer salmon, spinach and crab.

Brush on some egg wash

and Voila, beautiful dinner you will have.

We enjoyed ours with a nice bottle of Washington 2013Viognier made by Cougar Crest. It was a good pairing because of it's light lime and honey essence paired with the rich salmon wrapped in puff pastry. We almost always stop by the Columbia Crest tasting room when we are staying in Spokane at the Davenport Hotel.

We did realize we could have cut the salmon fillets into even smaller portions as it was quite a rich dish and with the pastry pretty filling. We each only ate half of ours.

8 oz Dungeness Crab Meat, rinsed and picked through for any remaining shells

3 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp minced shallots

3 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

Remove excess moisture from the spinach by wrapping it in cheese cloth or a clean kitchen towel, and squeezing.

Combine the crab, mayonnaise, shallots, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix together and set aside

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray. place one rectangle of puff pastry out on it. Place the salmon fillet in the center of the puff pastry and top with the spinach. Spread the crab mixture over the top of the spinach evenly.

Paint the puff pastry around the circumference of the salmon fillet with the beaten eggs. Top with the remaining piece of puff pastry and trim the excess dough from the package. Paint the top piece of puff pastry with the beaten eggs and crimp the edges of the top and bottom pieces of puff pastry to seal the salmon within.

Cut decorative vents in the puff pastry approximately every 2-3 inches down the length of the package.

You can use a cookie cutter to cut decorative pieces of puff pastry to place on top of your salmon Wellington prior to cooking if desired. Be sure to brush with egg wash prior to cooking.

Place in pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown. Remove and allow to stand before attempting to slice for serving.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

We must admit we do love the movie CHEF. We have watched it at least 10 times now. We love the focus on food, the music and the story of friends, family and the travels. It's just a perfect feel good kind of movie.

The movie inspired us to actually find the recipe for the Cubano sandwiches he made in his food truck, El Jefe. And we'll never regret it they are absolutely delicious. I found the recipe on the Bake Space Booknook Cafe App.

We start first with making a delicious citrus & mint based mojo to marinate the pork in. It creates a crispy crust around the moist meat.

Sandwiched between the roll is a spread of Dijon mustard, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pork roast and pickle slices. The pickles are key in this sandwich, don't skip this part.

I really didn't think this sandwich would be my type of thing to be honest. I'm not really a mustard fan (essential to this sandwich, I mix mustard & mayo together to make the mustard tolerable for my tastes.) I'm not really even a huge sandwich fan in general. But we both agree this Cubano could make anyone a sandwich fan. Mojo Recipe: